My inventory is full of monster materials.

"النورالمقدسيحمينا،الشريزول! (Blessed by the holy light, the evil retreats!)"

As Emily recited a sacred incantation, the golden Dawn Badge on the top of the staff shone brightly, suddenly illuminating Mark and Henry with a dazzling holy light.

A wisp of black smoke rose from each of them and drifted into the air.

At the same time, Henry and Mark's expressions brightened, and they realized what had just happened.

"I just..."

Henry was so embarrassed that he could hardly speak.

Mark replied in an icy tone.

"This beast actually knows mind control magic; no wonder it can control all the creatures in this area."

Clyde then realized how frightening it was.

If it weren't for the priestess, their entire adventure team might have been wiped out.

At this moment, Emily is simply a superhero!

A series of thoughts flashed through Mark's mind.

This is Emily's defensive divine spell, "Guardian Light," which is also an important branch of the "Radiance" path.

If you can master either the first-level "Shield" or the first-level "Devotion Shield", you can obtain the renowned second-level "Holy Shield" - which provides both mental and physical defense.

"Emily, you don't need to worry about anything. Just focus on timing the 'Guardian Light' skill."

Mark quickly gave the order, his gaze then sweeping towards the pool, searching for the culprit who had caused him to lose face—the Brain Core Slime King.

But in the brief interval of their conversation, the frozen brain core slime king suddenly severed one of its arms, forcefully tearing off the frozen part of the gel, and burrowed into the cave behind the waterfall.

The group chased each other to the waterfall, exchanged glances, and the atmosphere instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Only the rushing sound of the waterfall stood out clearly in the silence, even carrying a hint of eeriness.

Clyde was the first to suggest it.

"Should we charge in?"

"Well..."

Henry and Mark both shook their heads.

Within the confined space, the Brain Core Slime King has a significant advantage, making it seem inappropriate to actively pursue it.

Just as everyone was hesitating, a deep roar came from the depths of the cave.

"roar--!"

Then, a huge, grayish-brown body slowly emerged from the cave, its imposing presence forcing the waterfall's flow to split to both sides.

A three-meter-tall, burly body with a round belly, a pair of large eyes that intelligently looked to both sides, ferocious fangs protruding from his mouth, and a thick, rusty nail-studded club in his hand.

Cannibal!

The team members all felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.

As is well known, ogres are descendants of cursed giants. Although they are born with superhuman strength, they are also low in intelligence, greedy, and cruel. Their strength is among the best of the first-tier monsters.

Clyde knew more than Henry and the others.

He looked at the ogre, swallowed hard, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"It's the 'Silver Killer' Gulag. It used to roam the inner circle of the Golan Forest and was a notorious adventurer killer, having killed quite a few Silver-level adventurers."

"But it suddenly disappeared a year ago. Everyone in town thought the cannibal had left the Golan Forest, but we never expected... we never expected it had been hiding here all along!"

"No! It's not hiding!"

Mark immediately denied it, and said it firmly.

"Look over there!"

Following the direction Mark was pointing, everyone looked in that direction.

On the back of the ogre's head, there was a clump of transparent slime, from which a core resembling a brain could be vaguely seen emerging—it was the brain core slime king that had just burrowed into the cave!

"What does it want to do?"

Henry gripped his shield tightly, a strong sense of unease rising within him.

The next second, a bizarre scene unfolded.

The Brain Core Slime King slowly crawled up the ogre's neck to its mouth and then burrowed inside!

"roar--!"

The ogre Gulag suddenly clutched his head in pain, wildly smashing rocks and sending bone fragments flying everywhere.

Upon seeing this, the team members quickly retreated from the pool area to avoid these violent attacks.

After a short while, the ogre Gulag gradually calmed down.

Its eyes, which were originally looking to the sides, were forcibly turned back to face forward, and at the same time, they flashed with a cunning and sinister light.

As Mark watched this scene, a terrible truth suddenly came to mind.

The Brain Core Slime King compensated for the Ogre's intellectual deficiencies, while the Ogre compensated for the Brain Core Slime King's physical weakness. The two complemented each other, creating a perfect fusion of intelligence and strength!

In an instant, a chill ran through the hearts of everyone in the team. This was a terrifying "two-brained cannibal".

Before anyone could react, the ogre Gulag suddenly charged forward, violently swinging his spiked club and smashing it down on Henry, who was at the front.

Henry quickly raised his tower shield to block, and with a loud "bang," the huge impact sent Henry and shield flying five or six meters away, carving a deep trench in the ground. The steel tower shield was bent and dented in the middle, severely damaged.

Henry let out a muffled groan, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that the blow had injured his internal organs.

Everyone gasped in surprise.

"Henry—!"

Mark seized the opportunity, firing a crossbow bolt every two seconds, and in a short time he had unleashed 20 arrows.

The ogre was riddled with arrows, turning him into a hedgehog. At the same time, thanks to Mark's talent "Tear Combo," each arrow was also inflicted with a tearing and bleeding effect.

The ogre Gulag was in great pain, howling as he pulled the arrows from his body.

But just then, a large glob of slimy slurp flowed from his nostrils, and the ogre slurped it up a few times in his mouth.

Suddenly, he became unusually excited, completely lost his sense of pain, and the wound that had been bleeding profusely began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"regeneration!"

Mark's heart sank, and he instantly understood.

Ogres possess strong regenerative abilities, and ordinary external injuries cannot cause them any real harm. In addition, there is the hallucinogenic toxin in the brain core of the Slime King.

It is completely immune to physical trauma!

"roar--!"

The ogre Gulag glared angrily at Mark, a flash of black light passing through his eyes.

Mark immediately sensed something was wrong and shouted at Emily.

"Quickly unleash the 'Guardian Light'!"

hum-

[A fluctuation of "bewitching/controlling magic" has been detected. Your "Perception" is currently...]

[A "Protective Spell" has been detected; "Perception" no longer needs to be checked.]

When the cannibal's mental attack failed, it locked its gaze on Henry, who was the easiest target, and raised its spiked club high to smash him down—this blow was powerful and heavy, and if it hit, Henry would be seriously injured.

At the critical moment, Orion suddenly leaped in front of Henry, stood side by side with him, raised his shield, and assumed a defensive stance.

Joint defense!

"Bang—!"

Another loud crash resounded, and the powerful recoil nearly caused the ogre to drop the spiked club from its hand.

Orion's arrival relieved some of the pressure on Henry, so the two of them only took a few steps back before stopping.

This time they withstood the enemy's attack.

However, the situation did not improve in the slightest.

The team members had to defend against both physical attacks and mental assaults, essentially putting themselves in a defensive position.

Mark was extremely anxious and hurriedly called out.

"Clyde, do you have any poison? Bring me all of it!"

But Clyde simply shook his head and explained.

"No, the ogre's 'regeneration' will quickly metabolize the toxins."

Having said that, as if to prove something, Clyde pulled out several bottles of purplish-black poison from his backpack and smashed them hard at the ogre Gulag.

Crackling sound~

Several poison bottles exploded, releasing a cloud of purplish-black poisonous mist.

The ogre's skin immediately turned an ominous purplish-black.

However, in the short time it took for a gust of wind to disperse the poisonous fog, its skin returned to its original brown color, without causing any real harm.

Mark's gaze was fixed on the enormous figure.

Where exactly is the Achilles' heel?!

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Mark, and he realized the flaw in the attack. He raised his hand and swung an ice blade at the ogre's head.

The cannibal hurriedly crossed his arms to protect his head.

The ice blade shattered, leaving a deep wound that exposed bone.

The cannibal lowered his arm and glared angrily at Mark.

"..."

Mark immediately understood.

This reaction is definitely not from the ogre itself, but rather from the Brain Core Slime King.

So the flaw is obvious—it's the ogre's head (which seems like a pointless statement).

Meanwhile, the cannibal, enraged, abandoned Henry and his men and charged at Mark, brandishing his club.

Mark launched himself into the air, rolled three and a half times in the air, and dodged the impact of the cannibal dump truck.

Then, he tapped the cylinder behind him and silently recited a prayer.

【equipment】

— 1st Ring "Witchcraft Arrow".

To deal with the brain, you definitely need to use electric shocks; the tingling sensation is amazing!

Mark held the crossbow level, gathering lightning at his fingertips and slicing it across the arrow to create a "Lightning Arrow" through physical enchantment.

Immediately after, aim, fire, and the lightning-fast arrow struck the ogre precisely in the back of the head.

Sizzle—!

The electric light traveled through his entire body, causing the ogre to freeze, and a wisp of green smoke rose from the top of his head.

Seeing this, Mark became even more certain and quickly called out to his friends.

"We can't defeat it right now. I'll lure it away, and you guys take the opportunity to retreat!"

"No!"

Henry immediately refused, enduring his injuries, and said in a deep voice.

"Aureon and I can continue the defense and retreat slowly. We can't let you take the risk alone!"

"No, that thing has its eye on us. Even if we leave the Golan Forest, it will definitely keep chasing us."

Mark spoke solemnly, his eyes resolute.

"We may look like we can fight now, but we actually have no room for error. If we make a mistake, the front line will collapse and everyone will die!"

"So you all return to camp immediately, and I'll discuss this further when I get back. Hurry! It's about to wake up again!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the ogre Gulag roared again, his eyes flashing with an even more intense and dangerous glint.

Without further hesitation, Mark sprang out of the squad and raced into the depths of the forest to escape.

Sure enough, the ogre Gulag's hatred was completely absorbed by Mark. Without even glancing at the group in front of him, he abandoned them and roared as he chased after them. The huge footsteps echoed through the forest, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Henry watched Mark's disappearing figure and said in a deep voice.

"Let's go quickly, staying here will only be a burden to him!"

"Yes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Henry led the way with his tattered shield, Orion carried the unconscious Brady on his back, and Emily and Clyde followed carefully behind. The group quickly retreated towards the camp.